layering: i have NO idea what i'm talking about

If it hasn't become painfully obvious already - I seriously have no idea what I'm talking about when I post about things like layering rooms. It all sounds good when I write it out. It makes sense to me. But, it pretty much falls apart after that. I'm not trained in design. I'm just feeling my way through this.

Source: coastalliving.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Two and a half years ago I went on and on about this layering idea. I still think the first layer isn't something we want to skimp on. For the look we want, it's still really important. The part that hasn't really worked out so much, though, is the plan to complete the first layer everywhere before moving on to the second and third. Shoot - we're three years into this as of this weekend and I haven't posted a single thing about the second layer.

Source: designsponge.com via Jacci on Pinterest

do you see the wee little baby there? :)

So, we have rooms done that look pretty new and nice, but they are very barely decorated. Like... nothing on the walls.

That gets old.

And the master plan? Ha. Don't even get me started on that master plan.

Waste. Of. Time.

Source: pinkpersimmon.tumblr.com via Kristin on Pinterest

So, here's the scoop as of today (which, experience would tell me, three years from now I will probably look back on as sheer folly) is this... during the coming year, we're actually going to try to decorate a few rooms!

*audible gasps all around*

I know. I am SO crazy like that.

Source: houzz.com via Jacci on Pinterest

I'm not making any concrete goals, but I have some wishy washy goals that I'm going to (very loosely) keep to myself. But, for heaven's pete sakes, I want something on the walls already.

And some color.

I'm ready for some color.

All next week, I'll be posting anniversary posts. And a house tour, level by level. I feel like I should put a tag on that marked "Sold As Is". None of the rooms are done. It's just for documenting progress.

And remember, this is for posterity, so, do be honest.

So, hopefully Mr. Sun will cooperate and I can get some room shots. Check in on Monday if you're interested.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Our New Trim Reveal

It might be a little silly sounding, but I'm a tad nervous to show you guys what we've been up to. Remember now, I warned you that the new trim doesn't really look like it fits in with the rest of the house, yet. That's because it's the first part to really get changed in a way that takes the house in a completely new direction. For it all to make more sense, try to imagine a hallway light like this one...





...doorknobs something like these but with oil-rubbed bronze backplates...



and 5" wide planked wood floors - a versatile medium/darkish wood tone :) Got that? Okay, now the trim will make more sense. Quickly... here are the best shots I have of the hallway before...






And......here's our progress as of Saturday evening......


Wait! First I need to give some serious credit to Humphrey House, a blog we found via HouseBlogs dot net. They have been lovingly restoring a 1912 Craftsman since 2004, and have done such beautiful work. We referenced their trim, a few books on the subject, as well as stalked a few original 1920s Craftsman homes in the area (Open House from 2-4, here we come) while making our choices. Thanks to Humphrey House for such great photos of their trim and for answering questions in how to find things like "bullnose". Now...

















Sam has also finished the trim in Bedroom 3 (baseboards, basecap, and headers above the doors) and he's done all of the trim around both sides of each hallway door (hall side and room side) except for the master bedroom. He needs to borrow a table saw for that door because the dimensions are wonky.

But, doesn't it look soooooo different? Sam will continue installing this trim upstairs throughout the next two months and then we hope to caulk, prime, and paint when we begin getting warm days. We'll be painting all of the trim in Benjamin Moore's Dove White. I was skipping around the kitchen today and gave Sam a big hug & kiss and sang "Thank you for making our house so pretty!" :) And I mean it. It's really pretty in the hallway now. Oh, thank You, Lord.



And thanks to all of you for sharing our excitement and encouraging us along the way.

Curtain Call

I am now intimately acquainted with the Ritva curtains from IKEA. I've washed, dried, ironed, and hemmed 10 panels as of Friday, and a few months back I did the same to 8 more panels for one of the bedrooms, a closet, and the kitchen window. I can confidently say that I know these curtains :) Like all IKEA curtains, they're extra long, so if you're planning on doing this too anytime soon - count on it taking a while. They're big panels. They're also light, bright, and lovely :)

Before: original, aluminum windows and no curtains

After: new windows, new curtains :)

In Bedroom 2

Bedroom 4

In the Master Bedroom

We only have one window done in the master bedroom. The other master bedroom window is the last one I have to do. We may need to switch around the furniture arrangement in there to make the window placement look a little less wonky. Stick around - I think I'll do a post asking for opinions in a few days :)

So, then I'll just have the family room windows to do for now. Bedroom 3 has had its curtains for a little while, and the back room (SpareOom) won't be getting any for a long while - a workroom doesn't really need long, flowing white fabric. I'm planning on adding bamboo blinds beneath some of the curtain rods in the pics above. I'm fairly sure I want them there to cover up the dead space between the rods and the tops of the windows. If we decide we don't like them after all, we can always return them.

The First Layer is moving right along!!! The curtains really added a warmth and "prettiness" to the rooms, don't you think? I know, I know - they're a little boring all white and everything. Remember, though, that I'm working on establishing a neutral base in each room so that I can use COLOR in ways that are easy to change out and play with :) The color is coming, but first - the neutrals. We're putting our tree up this week (yes, we're so tardy!) and hopefully I can try out the bamboo blinds in the living room before the weekend!

Edited on Tuesday - My sister came over with her baby this morning to make Christmas cookies with us. Yum! It was the first time she had seen the curtains. We both thought that the living room curtains, especially, made the house feel instantly more homey and more "ours". Something about pretty window treatments just brings a cozy, lived-in feel to a room :) So the many hours of ironing and installing definitely paid off!

Winter House Plans: When It's Too Cold To Paint

November was unusually mild in our part of Ohio this year. We were able to get some painting projects in before the cold snaps really started snapping. Now, however, the cold has come (we scraped the ice off of the van windows for the first time this morning) and it's probably not going anywhere for a while. The forecasted high temps for this week (without accounting for windchill) are in the upper 20s and low 30s. That means that with windchill, it will be cold. It also means that painting season is over for a little while.

So, I'm sure you've been wondering what we plan on doing to the house all through the cold, gray Ohio winter when we can't have the windows open for ventilation to paint. You haven't been wondering? Oh, well I'll tell you anyway :) If you've read about our plan to complete a foundational "first layer" in each room of the house before moving on to the fun stuff (wall art, pillows, accessories, etc.) you might have a few guesses. If we won't be painting, what's left? I'll give you a hint, we aren't replacing any floors, either. Here's another hint, Shug and I went to IKEA yesterday and came back with six packages of white Ritva curtains. Okay, that was a little more than a hint, wasn't it?



I'm in the process of washing and drying all of the curtains now (I like to pre-shrink them before hanging). Tonight, I ironed the first pair and Sam hung them around the living room window. I'll show photos soon! The other 5 pair are going around the living room sliding doors, 2 pair in the master bedroom, and one pair in each of the remaining bedrooms (bedroom 3 already has these curtains).

Then... Sam's been working away on getting the trim going upstairs. He was off from work two days last week for our window installation. He was able to get a ton of trim up! Right now, literally, he's down in SpareOom cutting and hammering away on another "header" (I cannot for the life of me remember what I should really call it) that goes above each door. Trim is going to be a BIG part of the next few months. I cannot believe how much of a difference it's already making.





And, finally, I think we're going to be able to get around to some of the overhead lighting fixtures, too. Although we're still planning on a few special lighting purchases like the one in our kitchen, we also think the house could really benefit from some old-fashioned charm in the way of something like this...



"Since about 1915, the Jefferson has been an all-purpose household lighting star." Yup, that's what we need all right - an all-purpose household lighting star! These guys are a little pricey, but our thought is that since they are period lighting they are more likely to last for a long time without looking dated. In case you're wondering, we purposefully chose a trim style that corresponds to the same time period as the Jefferson. Here's a preview...



We're really hoping for a big character boost with these choices. Because of the cost, we probably won't be able to buy too many of these lights this winter, but I'm hoping for one in the entryway, upstairs hall, and possibly in two of the bedrooms. We'll see!

By the time some warmer weather starts rolling in, we should have the upstairs hall and bedrooms in great shape for some paint on the walls and on the new trim. I'm not going to fib, it is a little hard to not just skip right past things like trim and doors in our enthusiasm to decorate, but with every checkmark we make on these foundational steps, I'm more and more convinced that they are going to make a huge impact on our finished rooms. We both know our style well enough to know how much we are drawn to a little architectural charm. More on the new curtains and trim progress coming later this week!

Thanks so much for coming back to read about our bit by bit gains, guys :) We really love to read the comments you leave!

Have a great one :)

Coming to Terms... Layering

This photo is single-handedly responsible for my nearly constant urge to jump the gun and decorate this house. After this weekend, though, I've come to terms with one simple fact - this house needs its design foundation first.

Its First Layer of sorts.

Plenty of professional designers will say "inspiring" things like, "Finish the entire room before you move on to the next. Otherwise, you'll spend all this time and money and what will you have to show for it?" I actually spoke with a local interior designer a few weeks back that said exactly that. PROBLEM: Many of my rooms are ugly. If I stick with just one room until it is completely finished - from paint down to the details on the end tables - I'll have one gorgeous room after a year, but the other TEN rooms will still look like crud. That does not sound like a happy plan to me.

The more I think of it, the more I am confident that we need to approach this house in layers. Over a recent family vacation, I read Bunny Williams' Point of View. Dynamite book. One of the chapters is entitled, "Layering", and in it Ms. Williams explains how to approach the development of a lived in look over time. That's what I want. That's what this house needs to become a home... our home.

Layering.

So, what is the first layer to entail? What does this house need most to get it on solid footing design wise? (We aren't knocking out walls here - this is a cosmetic plan, not a complete overhaul). What does this house need? Well, if we're talking about first things first (and we are), it needs paint. It needs trim. It needs flooring. It needs doors. It needs lighting fixtures. It needs window treatments.

The first layer.

As much as I want to go out and buy thrift store tables that I can spray paint and find steals like $5 silver plated mint julip cups - I need to focus on getting this first layer in place. Paint, trim, floors, lights, door, windows. I'm still flipping through the House Beautifuls and Elle Decors of this world (the ones that are left, anyway) to gather inspiration, but the second and third layer ideas are in a holding bin. If I stick to this layering plan fairly faithfully, we should be well on our way to a completely new house within about 2 years. That's a crazy long time to wait to accessorize a room, isn't it? But, I'm going to try hard to hold off.

I think in the long run it will be a far more satisfying and encouraging approach. I suppose only time will tell.

Have a great one!

XO,
Jacci

P.S. Many, many thanks to Sherry for validating my new direction. She's a rock star, y'all. Go check out her blog!